


Unexpected Stubbornness

by Picajc



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Childbirth, F/M, Family, Gen, Modern Era, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 20:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16226726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Picajc/pseuds/Picajc
Summary: Imelda being her usual stubborn self leads to an unexpected surprise for her and Héctor.





	Unexpected Stubbornness

**_2:07 AM_ **

_ 4 minutes, 19 seconds _

_ Shit.  Shit, shit, shit! _

Imelda leaned against the headboard with a sigh of frustration.  She knew this was coming… knew it would be  _ soon _ for the last few days.  She knew everything she thought she needed to.  Read the books, watched the documentaries, and dragged Héctor to any classes she thought might prepare them.  They were ready for this.

Except, right now, she was anything  _ but _ ready.  She was grossly unprepared and she knew it.

_ Of all the times to be so stubborn…  _ she chided herself.  She  _ had _ been stubborn and she knew it.  The problem was knowing it now, and knowing it several hours ago, made for two completely different situations, the latter of which she would have preferred.  If only she had not let this go on for so long…

***

**_20 hours earlier  (6:05 AM)_ **

The sound of the alarm going off at six in the morning was not what had woken Imelda Rivera.  Nor was it the loud snores coming from her husband. It was their unborn daughter, digging her feet into her spine that had woken her from a restless sleep.  Not that this kid let her sleep much anyway the last few weeks. When not practicing to be a fúbol player, she made sure Imelda was in the bathroom every hour or so. 

“You better make this up to Mamá when you get here, mija,” Imelda groaned as she slowly sank back down into the bed.  “This is getting old.”

Next to her, Héctor stirred slightly. “ ‘Melda? You alright?”  He had gotten home late from a performance with Ernesto and was probably still in need of some sleep.  Imelda felt slightly guilty for waking him up.

“We’re fine,” she whispered as she tousled his hair.  “Your daughter just wants me up for the day.”

Héctor smiled sleepily and rested his hand on top of Imelda’s stomach.  “Good morning, princesa,” he smiled sleepily, eyes still shut. “Be good to your mamá today, por favor.”

Imelda took his hand off of her belly and kissed it before setting it back on the bed.  “Get some sleep, Héctor. It’s too early for you to be up.”

“For you too,” he mumbled, already drifting back into dreamland.  He really was the most considerate man she had ever known. Even more so than her own papá, and Imelda never thought she would find a man as wonderful as him.  Yet, here was Héctor, looking utterly content as he slept soundly in their bed. That knowledge alone filled her heart with so much joy. Her daughter must have sensed it as well, for a soft flurry of movement quickly followed. 

“He is pretty wonderful, isn’t he?” Imelda asked the softly rippling bump.  She placed her hand over it and couldn’t help but smile at the soft pressure against her hand.  As much as the pregnancy had driven her to distraction in the last few weeks, she knew a part of her would miss this when it was over.  “Come on, let’s get some breakfast, hmm?” And with some effort, Imelda hoisted herself up from the bed and made her way into the kitchen.

***

**_18 hours earlier  (8:15 AM)_ **

Héctor stumbled sleepily into the kitchen a couple hours later.  Imelda had obviously made breakfast and set a plate aside for him, complete with a note telling him how long to reheat it for.  He chuckled at that- she knew him so well. However, breakfast was out, yet Imelda was nowhere to be found. Feeling slightly alarmed by her absence, he made his way through their small house before he found her.  She must not have heard him approaching, and he took a moment to admire her.

She was gently rocking in the rocking chair her brothers had so thoughtfully made upon learning they were going to be tío’s.  Her eyes were closed and both hands were rubbing circles over the beach ball that had become her stomach. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful, and he knew he was a lucky man.  He didn’t know how some men felt about their wives when they were pregnant, but his Imelda had never been more beautiful to him, particularly in moments like this one.

Even in a pique of rage (usually at him, her brothers, or Ernesto), she was so fiery, so passionate about whatever had made her angry, he couldn’t help but admire how that emotion made her all the more stunning.  And in the end, the anger never lasted long. He was always there to hold her as the tears took hold and she apologized for being so ‘loco’. Imelda was beautiful no matter what, and she was his.

“Hola sleepyhead,” her soft voice pulled him from his musings.

“Good morning,” he smiled as he made his way into the room and kneeled before her.  He leaned forward with a kiss for her, and bent down to give on to his daughter. “Any reason we’re in here with the lights off this morning?”

Imelda smiled shyly.  “My back was sore. Rocking for a little while seems to help sometimes.”

“Is it helping now?”

“ Sí .  We are both quite content at the moment.”  They stayed there like that a while, Imelda rocking softly, Héctor before her with his head in her lap, softly humming.  They were both looking forward to the day when they could really sing to their daughter, and have her in their arms instead of between them in her belly.

“Did you eat?”  she asked after a time.

“Not yet.  Come sit with me?”

“Of course.”  He helped her out of the chair and held her as tight to him as he could.  She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest with a sigh of contentment.  A sharp kick was felt by both of them.

“I think someone wants their papá to go eat his breakfast,” Imelda chuckled, not bothering to lift her head.

“In a minute,” he responded with a kiss to the top of her head.  “Papá just wants to hold Mamá for a minute.”

In reality, they stayed there more than a minute, but neither seemed to care.  Eventually, their baby girl settled as well and they made their way into the kitchen for a leisurely breakfast.

**_15 hours earlier (12PM)_ **

“What about Adrianna?”

“Ehh...”

“It’s pretty!”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t, mi amor.”

“Then why ‘ehh…’?”

“I don’t know, it just doesn’t… flow easily.  And there really is no good nickname to give her.”  Héctor paused and a devilish smirk began to form. “Unless you want to call her ‘Rianna?”  Imelda’s disgusted face was all the answer he needed. “What about Sofia?”

“EVERYONE is naming their daughter Sofia- two girls at work and the family from church one block over just named their daughter Sofia.  It’s  _ too _ common right now.”

Héctor sighed in mock frustration.  “Will we ever agree on a name?”

“Well, we’re going to have to sooner or later,” Imelda chuckled.  “We are not leaving the hospital with a blank birth certificate.”

“They let people do that?!”  Héctor sounded appalled. “That’s terrible!”

“It happens more often than you think, Héctor.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not awful.”  A pause. “I mean I kind of get it if you don’t know what you’re having, but even then you know it’s going to be one or the other.  But we’ve  _ known  _ it’s a girl since Week 20.  It’s now almost Week 40, and we still have nothing other than Martina for a middle name.”

“We really could name her after your mamá if you really wanted to,” Imelda offered quietly.  Héctor’s mother had died shortly before their wedding last fall. She had been sick for a long time, and knowing her death was coming sooner than they liked, they had quietly married at home with only their parents and her brothers present before Martina got too sick to remember.  Their ‘big’ wedding was still held for everyone else to celebrate with them, but both were happy Héctor’s mother could witness their vows before she left this world. 

Héctor threw her a sad smile and shook his head.  “And I love you,  _ so much _ , for that, but I still agree she needs her own name.  When we have another, we can revisit that, but I am fine with the decision we already made.”

Imelda returned the smile with one of her own before his words really sank in.  “What do you mean  _ when _ we have another?  Who says I am going to want another one after this?”  She chucked the pair of socks she had just balled up at his head.

“Hey!  I have every confidence we will have another one, ‘melda,” Héctor retorted.  “I am muy guapo after all.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and she threw another pair of socks at him.  “Besides, didn’t we learn there are plenty of things to help you with pain? And didn’t I offer my hand to hold?  As long as you don’t damage it beyond repair?”

“You better hope I don’t,” she laughed as he took one of her hands and kissed it.  “You need these hands to play. I’d hate to think of our mija never getting to— _ ah!” _

“What? What is it?  Are you ok? Is this it?  Should I-“

“Cállate, idiota!  She just kicked me really hard in the back, it startled me.”

“You’re sure?” despite her assurances she was fine, he still looked worried.  He was going to be a nag the entire rest of the day if she didn’t distract him.

“Yes, I’m sure,” and she leaned over to kiss his nose.  “Why don’t you head down to the plaza for a little bit? Pick up some pan dulce for after dinner before you come home.”

“You’ll be ok?  You won’t work too hard while I’m gone?”

“I promise.  I might even take a nap.  Go.”

**_12 hours earlier  (3:20 PM)_ **

She tried to nap, she really did.  But a sudden urge to clean the bathroom lead to needing to clean the bedroom, which then lead to the living room not being up to par.  Héctor had text her every half hour or so to check in and for the last two hours she had ignored him. He must have assumed she was napping because he didn’t rush home, and the texts stopped.  He really was the most considerate man and sometimes she wondered how she got so lucky.

However, right now she was wondering why she couldn’t get the glass on the coffee table to shine.  She had cleaned it several times over, but it still didn’t look like she  _ thought _ it should.  The bathroom and bedroom had been easy enough, but she just couldn’t get ahead in here.  She was hoping to be done before Héctor got home, but those hopes were quickly dashed.

He was trying to be quiet, assuming she was asleep down the hall.  However, he had never been very stealthy and his guitar banged into the tall lamp inside the doorway.  In his defense, Imelda had just moved it there an hour ago.

“Careful, Héctor!  I just cleaned there!”  Obviously Imelda’s voice startled him, for he almost toppled over when she spoke.

“Imelda?!  What on earth are you doing?”

She looked up at him sheepishly.  “Cleaning.”

“Why?!”

“Because the living room didn’t feel clean enough.”

“What?!”  These one word questions were really throwing her off.  She had less time to think of an excuse between them.

“Well after I did the bathroom and the bedroom, the living room just—“

“You cleaned three rooms today?!  Why? You should have been resting!”  He hurried over to help her to her feet before all but shoving her onto the couch.  “Do not move- I will take care of dinner tonight.” 

He gave her no time to argue before he made a beeline for the kitchen.  Now that she had slowed down, she had to admit the pain in her back was a little worse- perhaps she had overdone it.  It didn’t matter now, the house was clean enough, and she knew Héctor wouldn’t let her lift a finger the rest of the night.

**_8 hours earlier (6:30 PM)_ **

She had been to the bathroom probably 100 times through the day but right now it wasn’t because her bladder was rebelling.  She was hiding from her husband. She didn’t want to worry him, and if he saw her right now, he would be worried.

The pain in her back had increased since Héctor made her sit down prior to dinner.  She was particularly fidgety through the meal, but that was nothing new in recent weeks.  It was after dinner, sitting on the porch with dessert that the pain seemed to increase in waves.  She subtly kept an eye on their frequency as the sun began to set, and excused herself to the bathroom every so often.  Right now the pains were coming every 12 minutes.

_ Still plenty of time _ she thought to herself as the pain subsided.   _ This is really it. _  All the doctors had told them that they didn’t have to head for the hospital until the contractions were around the five minute mark, or unless something didn’t feel right.  So far, it was just back pain, nothing Imelda couldn’t handle. And nothing her panic-prone husband needed to know about just yet.

She made her way back out to the porch before he had time to worry.  He smiled as she approached and guided her into his arms.

“Ok?” he whispered against her ear, leaving a gentle kiss just below it.

“Mmhmm,” she murmured, leaning more into him.

“You know what I was just thinking about?”

“What?”

“The day you told me we were pregnant.” A pause and another kiss, this time behind her ear.  “That was a good day.”

It had been a good day.  He had been away with Ernesto for a week, working on getting a few songs recorded for digital release.  She had been exceptionally delighted to welcome him home and talk about work of all things. She and Ceci had been working long hours in preparation for their busy season.  They were a small but growing company, on the cusp of making a name for themselves across the entire country. 

_ “So, I’ve spent the week working on a new design I think you might like,” she had told him almost hesitantly.  “Wait here.” _

_ She had disappeared into the bedroom and came back with a signature Rivera shoe box in her hands.  She placed it in front of him and stood next to the table, waiting for him to open it. _

_ “Go on, open it,” she urged, the excitement creeping into her voice. _

_ He lifted the lid expecting to see a pair of heels, or flats, anything but what was actually in the box.  He took out the tiniest pair of shoes he had ever laid eyes on. He looked up at her with a look of confusion before he saw the tag attached to them _

To:  Papá

_ Héctor wasn’t the most observant man, but he also wasn’t an idiota (most of the time).  His eyes widened as he looked from the shoes, to the tag, and finally up at Imelda. _

_ “ ‘Melda… ?” _

_ “What do you think?” she asked, teeth clenched tightly on her bottom lip.  He was quiet- he was  _ never _ quiet.  And now, she was nervous. _

_ But before she had too much time to worry about it, her world started spinning and she was almost deafened by the grito he let forth. _

_ “We’re having a baby!” he shouted for all of Santa Cecilia to hear.  “Ay dios mio! Imelda! Mi amor!” And he set her back on her feet and started peppering her face with kisses, before dropping to his knees and doing the same to her stomach.  _

_ She couldn’t help the giggles as she loosely wrapped her arms around his neck.  He looked up at her with tears threatening to fall, and such love in his eyes that she wondered why she ever felt nervous in the first place. _

_ “When?”  he questioned, eagerly looking up and awaiting her answer. _

_ “In about seven months- late spring most likely.” _

_ “That’s so  _ long _ ,” he whined in mock frustration. _

_ “It’ll be here before we know it,” she reassured him with a smile before hugging his head closer to her. _

“And you were right,” his voice pulled her from her reminiscing.  “She’ll be here very soon.”

_ Sooner than you think, mi amor.  Sooner than you think. _

***

**_2:35 AM_ **

_ 3 minutes, 7 seconds _

This was going too fast…  _ way _ too fast.  The contractions had increased in frequency and duration so quickly, Imelda barely had time to breathe between them, let alone figure out how to wake Héctor and get to the hospital as quickly as possible. 

_ I have to pee again  _ she groaned internally as a contraction subsided.   _ Might as well do that first _ .  She heaved herself out of the bed and onto shaky legs.  She had just gotten inside the bathroom door when the strongest pain yet hit, causing her to cry out sharply.  She glanced down to see a puddle at her feet- her water had broken.

“Imelda?” Héctor called as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.  Not seeing her next to him was nothing new as of late, but something had woken him.  He glanced toward the bathroom door, surprised to see it wide open with the lights blazing.  As he became more coherent he was jolted fully awake by the sight of his wife hunched over in the doorway, one hand gripping the door frame, the other cradling her stomach.  In that instant he realized, it was her cries that had startled him awake. 

“Imelda!” he shouted and leaped across the bed and onto the floor next to her.  He took in her appearance and was frightened by what he saw. She was covered in a sheen of sweat, hair plastered to her face and the side of her neck.  The wounded look in her eyes was almost too much for him to bear, but he held her gaze, though it pained him to do so. “Oh ‘Melda,” he whispered, brushing an errant strand of hair from her eyes. “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”

She shook her head, let go of the door frame and slid to the bathroom floor.  She reached blindly for his hand and held it tight. “Ay _ , I don’t know _ !”  She shook her head frantically and began speaking so quickly Héctor had trouble keeping up.  “I didn’t even realize it was labor until after dinner. And it wasn’t that bad just back pain.  But it got so much worse so fast, I barely had time to breathe let alone think.” She looked up at him again, tears flowing steadily down her face.  “I thought we had more time!” 

And without another word she fell forward into his arms, head on his shoulder, her sobs ripping him apart.  Being the strong and dependable one was not him. Imelda always kept things together in what seemed like the direst situations.  She was the rock of their growing family, but right now the rock was crumbling. She needed him to be strong. And not only Imelda, but their daughter trying to make her way into the world was going to need him too.

“Ok,” het let out a slow breath and ran a trembling hand through his hair.  “Ok, ok, ok. First thing we need to do is call someone, sí?” Imelda nodded against his shoulder, trying to focus on the breathing techniques they had learned in one of the many classes she had forced him to attend.  “Ok, I have to get my phone from the charger but I’ll be right back.” He carefully set her against the door frame before scrambling to his feet and all but ripping his phone from the charging cord. He dialed the first number he could think of as he returned to her side.  She was beyond grateful he was taking charge of their situation head on.

“Héctor?” a groggy voice answered the phone.

“Nesto!” Héctor practically shrieked into the phone.  “Nesto are you awake? I mean awake awake?” That grateful feeling Imelda had instantly turned to fury.

“You called Ernesto?!” Imelda panted from her spot on the floor.

Héctor ignored the comment (and the accompanying murderous look he was receiving), and turned his attention to his sleepy friend.  “Ernesto? Imelda’s having the baby!”

“That’s nice, amigo,” Ernesto mumbled in reply.  “Let me know when it gets here.”

“No, ‘Nesto you don’t understand!”  Héctor frantically continued. “She’s having her right now, on the bathroom floor!”

Ernesto was silent a moment.  “Well what are you on the phone with me for, estupido?”

“Because you’re my best friend, my brother.  You always have an answer for everything! What do I do?”

“Are you seriously asking  _ Ernesto _ what to do right now?  The serial bachelor, the only friend we have who  _ doesn’t  _ have a wife, let alone children?” Imelda was furious.  She reached out to smack Héctor on the head, but he was easily able to avoid her angry fist.  Her foot on the other hand, made terrific contact with his leg. 

“Héctor, you know no one hates saying this more than me.  But Imelda is right- I am the last person you should have called.”

Héctor was silent a moment before looking toward Imelda with a sheepish smile.  “Ernesto said you were right, mi amor.”

“Héctor,” Ernesto called to his friend.  “Hang up and call someone else.” A pause as he heard Imelda shout a string of curses that turned even his ears pink.  “Call  _ anyone  _ else.”  And with that he ended the call.  Héctor stared at the phone slightly bewildered before his eyes lit up and he began searching for the next number to call.

_ He’ll probably call my brothers next,  _ Imelda thought to herself, trying to distract herself from the increasing pain and pressure she was feeling.

“Héctor?”  an excited voice answered the call.

“Mamá!  Imelda- the baby- bathroom- HELP!” he stuttered into the phone.  Her mother wasn’t the doctor or the hospital, but she would be exponentially more helpful than Ernesto.

“Héctor, slow down, mijo,” Emilia replied to her son in law.  Héctor took a deep breath. “Good, now try again.”

“Mamá, Imelda is having the baby right now… on the bathroom floor!”

“WHAT?” Imelda heard her mother shriek as Héctor pulled the phone away from his ear.  “What do you mean she’s on the bathroom floor? Why didn’t you take her to the hospital?”

“She said it got really bad really fast!  I swear I didn’t know or I would have! She didn’t tell me anything!”  It didn’t take much to reduce Héctor to tears, but Imelda’s mother scolding him was one of the quickest ways to do so.

Emilia sighed in frustration.  “Leave it to my daughter to be so stupidly stubborn.  You can tell her I said that too!”

Héctor looked at Imelda, leaning against the door frame, eyes tightly closed, hands rubbing circles over her belly, attempting to soothe the anxious child within her.  His heart broke even more in that moment.

“I don’t think that’s what she needs to hear right now, Mamá.”

Emilia smiled to herself.  She had to remember not to be too angry with him.  Imelda had been stubborn since before she came into this world- and ten days late at that.  She knew this was not his fault, but rather the result of her daughter stubbornly refusing to accept what was happening to her. 

“You’re a good husband, Héctor,” Emilia chuckled.  “Ok, you’re going to hang up with me, call the—“ whatever instructions she was going to give him were cut off by an ear piercing yell from her daughter.

“HÉCTOR!  Héctor, something’s happening.  It feels different. She’s coming  _ now _ .  There’s a lot of pressure and I--,” whatever else she was going to say was cut off by another loud moan that quickly increased to a scream through tightly clenched teeth.  Héctor’s eyes widened in horror as he chanced a glance between her legs and saw the top of a head about to force its way through.

“Is she sure?” Emilia asked, sounding much calmer than she felt.

“Are you s..s… sure?” his voice trembled.  “You can’t wait just a little bit longer?” Another shrill cry was her reply, followed by her foot making hard contact with his shin.  “That would be a no then…”

“Héctor, can you see the head?”

“ _ Mierda,”  _ he swore, eyes transfixed on the top of his daughters head, giving Emilia all the answer she needed.  “Ok, we should probably get you into a more comfortable posi—“

“No, absolutely not!” she growled at him through clenched teeth, batting his hands away.

“ ‘Melda, I don’t think the doorway is the best spot to give birth in,” he tried to argue.

“I know!  But I AM NOT having her on the bathroom floor, idiota!  Now help me into bed!” Without another word, Héctor tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder and scooped Imelda into his arms. Quickly and as softly as possible, he deposited her in their bed.  He stacked all of their pillows between her back and the headboard as she propped herself up against them. “Héctor, I have to push, I can’t wait anymore,” Imelda cried out, her knuckles white with the grip she had on the sheets.

“Mamá Emilia, she says she has to push, what do I do, what do I do?” Héctor frantically questioned.

“Héctor, you need to calm down.  I’ll stay on the phone with you, just put it on speaker and put it down.  You’re going to need both hands for this.”

Héctor did as she asked and took a deep breath, though it did little to calm his nerves.  “Ok, now what?”

“Imelda, can you hear me?” Emilia called to her daughter. 

“Si, Mamá.  Help me, por favor!”  Imelda cried, wishing more than anything her mother was there with her.

“Ok mija, it’s going to be ok.  You and Héctor can do this. Papá is calling an ambulance right now.  It’s going to be ok.” A pause. “Héctor, either sit behind her or take her hands- she’s going to need you to hold on to.”

“Imelda, tell me what to do,” Héctor asked as he gently rubbed her calf.  She said nothing but held both of her hands out to him and he immediately took them in his own.  “I’ve got her, Mamá. Now what?”

“Start pushing, Imelda!”  Emilia instructed and Imelda had never felt more grateful to hear any two words.

Imelda tightened her grip on Héctor’s hands and pushed while he counted for her, just like they learned in one of the (not so ridiculous) classes they took.  Héctor was torn between watching her, and watching his daughter start to come into the world. They continued like this for several pushes, the head emerging a little more each time.

“Talk to me, Héctor,” Emilia called after another round of pushing.

“The head’s almost out!” He answered, not taking his eyes off of Imelda.  She was red faced, covered in sweat, her curls were tumbling out of the high messy bun she usually slept in, and tear stains streaked down her face.  Still, she had never looked more beautiful to Héctor than she did right now.

“Eres hermosa,” he whispered as he tucked a loose tendril behind her ear and cupped her cheek.  She leaned heavily into the touch with a ghost of a smile.

“Te  amó ,” she whispered between deep breaths.  He ran his thumb over her cheek before taking his hand back.  She took hold of his forearms and lifted herself up to continue pushing.

As she did, she leaned farther forward with the pain until her head was touching his. They stayed like that, foreheads together, clutching each other’s’ arms, every cry and groan from Imelda cutting into Héctor like a knife.  As he continued talking softly to her, he looked down between her legs and saw that their daughter was almost completely with them.

“You’re doing it, ‘melda,” Héctor coached, hands running gently over her arms.  “Almost done, she’s almost here.”

“Are you sure?”  her voice shook, eyes shut tight in concentration and pain.

Héctor chuckled.  “No, but I figure she can’t be too long, even with me for a papá.”

Imelda smiled briefly, and with one long, final groan of relief, delivered a squirming, squalling baby girl before collapsing back against the pillows.

“You did it, Imelda!  She’s here, she’s really here!” Héctor cried as he scooped the baby into his arms and laid her on Imelda.  He then crawled up the bed to properly hold both of his girls in his arms.

“Are they alright, Héctor?” Emilia’s tearful voice echoed through the room.

“They’re fine, Mamá,” Héctor choked out, tears falling freely now.  “Perfect and both so beautiful.”

“Gracias a dios,” Emilia sobbed.  “The ambulance should be there soon.  We’re going to meet you at the hospital.  I’m so proud of you… so proud of both of you!”

“Gracias, Mamá,” the couple replied together.  They disconnected the call just as the ambulance arrived.  The medics were a little surprised to see the work had been done for them, but quickly set into motion.  After checking over both mother and baby (and the proud papa was well), the new family was whisked off to the hospital.

It was much later in the day that the small family was left alone to bond.  It took a great deal of effort from Papá Antonio to get Mamá Emilia to leave the new parents alone, but he promised to bring her back after they had all gotten some proper sleep.  Knowing Héctor and Imelda had gotten next to nothing the night before, and knowing they were going to have very few opportunities to sleep well in the coming months, was enough to send her home.  Héctor walked them out of the maternity wing, accepted the hug and handshake from his father in law, and the may kisses and words of praise from his mother in law, and finally went back to rest with his tired girls.

He closed the door softly before turning to look at the sight before him.  Imelda held their baby girl close and was humming softly to her. The baby was asleep but Héctor could just tell she recognized her mamá’s voice.  He knew nothing would ever compare to the picture his wife and daughter made.

“Room for one more over there?” he asked with a soft, tired smile.

Imelda said nothing but shifted over in the bed with a slight wince, which of course Héctor noticed right away.

“Are you alright?”

Imelda nodded.  “There’s going to be a little bit of discomfort for a while, Héctor.  I did this without any pain killers, you know.”

He blushed slightly before carefully climbing in the bed and wrapping her up in his arms, his hand under the baby’s head.  “And you were amazing, mi amor.” A kiss to her temple. “I am in more awe of you now than ever before.”

She leaned into his embrace with a soft sigh and a gentle nuzzle.  “You were pretty wonderful yourself,  cariño .  I’m glad you were with me.”  With a smirk she continued, “even if you did call Ernesto first.”

Héctor groaned and ran a hand over his face.  “You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”

“Even if I do, you know he won’t.  He’ll probably add a story telling portion to all of your shows from now on.”

“This is true.”  Another kiss for her.  “But he’ll probably embellish the hell out of it, make himself look like a hero.” 

They both chuckled at that, causing Imelda to grimace once again.  “Por favor, don’t make me laugh, at least for a couple of days.”

“Lo siento,” he chuckled and pulled her closer.  At that the baby stirred and opened her large chocolate brown eyes to stare somewhat indignantly at her parents.

“Did we wake you, mija?” Imelda cooed while the baby continued to stare at them.  “I bet you’re wondering what we’re going to call you.”

“How long do we have to figure that out?” Héctor asked as he ran a finger across his daughter’s tiny cheek.

“As long as we both continue to be fine, they said sometime tomorrow we can go home.”

“Already?  But what if we don’t have a name by then?”

“Well, I have an idea.  Actually, Papá gave me the idea before he left.  What do you think of Socorro?”

It only took a second for Héctor’s face to break into a wide grin.  “Socorro Martina Rivera. It’s perfect. Your papá is a genius. Just don’t tell him I said that- I’ll never hear the end of it from him or your mamá.”

“Your secret is safe,” Imelda smiled.  “What do you think, Socorro? Is that a name you can live with for, say, the next 100 years?”  Socorro made a small grunt and promptly shut her eyes again, curling more into Imelda’s embrace.

“Eh, she’ll get used to it,” Héctor chuckled.  “Maybe we can give her a nickname too. Socorro… corro… Coco!  We’ll call her Coco for short.”

“I like that,” Imelda sighed contentedly.  Her eyes began to drift closed as she added, “and I love you.”

“I love you too,” Héctor murmured in response.  “I love both of you so very much.” And with the afternoon sun drifting into the room, the family fell into the first of many, many naps to come.  Their world was contained in that hospital bed, and nothing on Earth could have made that moment more perfect.

 


End file.
